Chesapeake states grapple with ‘forever chemical’ contaminating drinking water

Not long ago, Nathan Volpi began wondering about the safety of the tap water that he, his wife and two young children had been drinking for years.

Volpi, a lawyer, had heard worrisome stories from friends and relatives in southeastern Pennsylvania about tainted drinking water found near military bases there. The same contaminants had turned up in wells serving Harrisburg International Airport just across the Susquehanna River from his home in Newberry Township, and he knew of defense facilities in the general area.

“Seeing all these red flags,” Volpi recalled, “I decided to get my water tested to see how it came out.”